10 Common Household Items Your Toddler Wants for Playtime

Whether it’s the toy tornado in your child’s bedroom or the mountain of toys rivaling Mt. Kilimanjaro in the family room, it is likely your home is equipped with loads of expensive toys that could entertain every tiny tot in a 15-mile radius should there ever be an apocalypse.

Well, for five minutes at least.

Toys toddlers love are often the ones you least expect.

Toddlers really are happy with the simple stuff, like toys made from household items.

You don’t need to spend a lot of money for your toddler to experiment, observe, learn, and have fun!

Try these 10 household items that can be used as toys for your toddler during playtime.

1. Cooking pots & pans

Hello, musical instruments! Who needs drums and musical toys, when you have a wooden spoon and Mama’s cooking pans that barely see the light of day (only when Dad is lucky 😂) You never know, your kid could become the next huge YouTube sensation. Imagine, The Little Drummer Boy live!

2. Empty food boxesof various sizes

Tissue boxes, macaroni boxes, egg cartons, cereal boxes, you name it! There are tons of craft and sensory activities you can create with these items. I put little polyester pom poms in an egg carton and watch her move them around. This helps your child with fine motor skills. I also like to hide little Goldfish and Gerber Puff snacks in tissue boxes for Violet to fish out. When she finds these gems hidden in boxes around the house, she shrieks with excitement. I’ll take shrieking over crying bloody murder any day.

3. Laundry baskets

They are fun to climb in and out of, but the best thing of all is they help teach your toddler the concept of chores! Violet loves to pull the clothes out of the dryer and put them in the laundry bucket. Of course, she tips it over and walks around the house dropping brother’s socks and Mom’s underwear everywhere….but hey she is learning how to be Mama’s little helper, right?!

4. Old magazines

Magazines are one of my daughter’s favorite thing to play with. She rips through them and litters the living floor with her art. I’ve come to realize I will always be cleaning so what’s the difference if it’s little pieces of paper or a bazillion baby dolls! For the older tots, they can cut pictures out of the magazine to create a memorial scrapbook.

5. Remote controls

Who needs teething biscuits and chew toys when there are 20 remotes laying around the house? I don’t know about you, but Violet cries for remotes whenever she sees them. She loves to chew on them and carry them around the house. We tried getting her toy remotes, but she’s won’t touch them. Can’t trick this girl. Oh, and she has plenty of teethers, but none like her favorite remotes. Do you think I could become a thousandaire by designing a teether shaped like a remote control 🤔?? (Make sure to always remove the batteries)

6. Paper towel or toilet paper rolls

There are hundreds of uses for paper rolls, and most can be found on your local hangout spot, Pinterest. We like to turn them into musical instruments, racetracks, and baseball bats!

You can play America’s pastime indoor with your kiddos: use recycled cardboard tubes from rolls of gift wrap or paper towels as a child-friendly baseball bat, and use a balloon as the ball. Swing batta, batta!

7. Large cardboard boxes

Who cares if Toys ‘R Us closed? The real toy store favorite is Boxes, Etc. I’ve never met a child who didn’t love large boxes. Boxes allow children to use their imagination and open up a whole new world of exploration. From forts to indoor sandboxes, boxes have fun covered. I know you have 20 Amazon Prime boxes hiding in your closet, just let the kiddos have some already.

Make an indoor sandbox by filling a cardboard box with dried beans, rice, oatmeal, or salt. Give your kiddo some sand toys or even just cups and wooden spoons to enjoy digging, scooping, pouring, and more. (lay a tablecloth underneath the box for easy cleanup)

8. Plastic bottles

Empty water bottles or large soda bottles are great! Save the wine bottles for a Mama DIY activity, mmkay! Most toddlers love to just squeeze the bottles until they crinkle and snap, but there is so much more you can do. Our favorite is toddler bowling.

For toddler bowling, kids roll a rubber ball toward the plastic bottle “pins” (fill them with rice if you need to add some weight).

9. Pipe cleaners and colanders

You can pick up different textures (velvet, silky, sparkly) of pipe cleaners for $1 at the Dollar Store if you don’t have any on hand. Let your child stick the colorful pipe cleaners through the holes of colanders. This is a great activity for fine motor skills and hand to eye coordination. (Some pipe cleaners can be sharp at the ends, please be around to monitor the tots!)

10. Containers with lids

Empty formula tins, your old protein powder container, the 100 Tupperware containers overflowing your cupboard, your child will love them all. And, the best of all, your tot may be able to match the missing lids to the pile of containers better than you!

Violet playing with Tupperware containers

What household items do you use for your child’s activities?

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Author: Brandi Wiatrak

Hey, Mama! I'm Violet's mom and Chris' step-mama, Brandi. This space is a peek into my cold-brew fueled life navigating motherhood and the world. With brutal honesty, humor, and sarcasm, I talk about the joys (and sucks) of parenting, ways to live a simple & sane life, and awesome adventures to embark on with your family. Come aboard my crazy train! Wine and Gerber Puffs included.
View all posts by Brandi Wiatrak

13 thoughts

Love this list! My toddler is obsessed with anything that has a lid he can take off and put back on, so his favorite toys right now are his sippy cups (empty of course)! He loves taking the lid off and putting things inside, then putting the lid back on.

Ah – yes the open cupboard door with plastics inside. I used that technique with mine. I learned it from my own mother – and it was fun to watch your little ones dive in and have a treat with all these “toys”.